Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is all for “making government more efficient” — simply not the way in which the federal authorities goes about it.
That was simply certainly one of Polis’ pushbacks in opposition to the brand new Trump administration throughout POLITICO’s Governors Summit on Thursday. Democratic governors throughout the nation have signaled an eagerness to companion with President Donald Trump on sure points, although they haven’t held again from criticizing the president in his first weeks again on the White Home.
Polis — who at occasions has supplied contrarian views to his fellow Democrats, like when he voiced help for now-Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — indicated some frequent floor with the administration’s efforts to focus on “waste at federal agencies,” and steered that states can study from efforts being made on the federal degree to take action.
However the present strikes from Elon Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity are “not necessarily the best way to get … a better outcome for less money,” he argued in an interview with POLITICO’s Eugene Daniels, proposing that “a better way to do it would be more zero-based budgeting.”
“What is it that we need to accomplish with this agency? A, do we even need to accomplish it anymore, or is it counterproductive? B, if we do need to accomplish it: pretend it doesn’t exist — how do you create the most efficient possible system to do that for the least money, and to do it the best way from the ground up? And then kind of juxtapose and replace the old with the new,” he stated. “The way that they seem to be doing it is just sort of tearing down the old without necessarily having a more efficient way of doing it.”
Polis, who took the helm as chair of the bipartisan Nationwide Governors Affiliation final yr, touted repealing greater than 200 previous state government orders and seeking to take away “unnecessary rules and regulations” in Colorado. He stated that federal efforts to make “compliance easier in certain areas” would profit states’ pushes to make their governments extra environment friendly as effectively.
“We literally have employees that just sit there to comply with federal requirements, so I’d love to find a way where if they make the federal requirements easier, we can then downsize the state people that are simply filing federal paperwork as their entire jobs,” he stated.
Polis additionally shared ideas on different areas by which the Trump administration could possibly be doing issues in another way, together with on tariffs, which he known as a “self-inflicted wound that would raise prices, increase inflation and destroy jobs.”
The governor is commonly outspoken — particularly on-line, together with his notable social media presence. (“I had to learn what commercial media was,” he stated on Thursday. “I had no idea what the networks were or anything, because that’s where I live, online.”) In November, he shared his help on X for Kennedy as Trump’s HHS choose, which drew some blowback from another Democrats.
Polis stated on Thursday that he doesn’t agree with Kennedy on “some of the nutty stuff he believes,” and clarified that he’s “obviously pro-vaccine.” However he stated he’s “excited because he’s going to shake up HHS.”
“I hope he’s not too controlled by Republican special interests, but they need to let him go to really focus on the health of the American people,” Polis stated. “I take him at his word. Obviously, I would oppose if he in any way interferes with people’s ability to protect themselves from deadly diseases. I would be among the first to criticize that.”
However regardless of bolstering his nationwide presence over time, the previous member of Congress is mum on his plans for 2028. At final yr’s POLITICO’s Governors Summit, Polis, who’s term-limited in 2026, didn’t rule out a presidential bid. When requested about potential presidential aspirations on Thursday, he stated he’s “really focused on the job that I have.”
“I don’t have any plans to even think about that,” he stated. When requested whether or not he was taking the potential of working for president off the desk, Polis responded that it “wasn’t even on the table.”
